October 6, 2008

Academic careers in the social sciences

Career Corner at Congress 2008

Everything you need to know to get hired in the social sciences.

From the four key ingredients to landing a top academic job, to the "three Ds" of social savvy for academics (and yes, dating is one of them), University of British Columbia sociology professor Sylvia Fuller offers honest advice to take you from grad school to the tenure track.

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Learn more about Career Corner at Congress: Congress 2009 | Congress 2008 | Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences


Introduction (5:05 mins)


How to keep your options open for an academic career (2:33 mins)


The pros of academic careers (5:40 mins)


The cons of academic careers (6:11 mins)


The four key ingredients to landing a top academic job (4:01 mins)


Academic accomplishment - Publications (7:16 mins)


Academic accomplishment - Awards (1:21 mins)


Academic accomplishment - Credentials & Reference Letters (7:04 mins)


Social savvy - The three Ds - Dress (7:07 mins)


Social savvy - The three Ds - Disclosure (3:05 mins)


Social Savvy - The three Ds - Dating (5:30 mins)


Having a life outside academe - You deserve it and it will help (2:29 mins)


Luck - How to be open to opportunities when they arise (3:07 mins)

Questions from the audience and asides:

Can I apply for jobs outside of Canada? (1:51 mins)


Should I do a postdoc/grad studies at the school where I want to get a job? (3:10 mins)


What it means if location is really important to you in grad school and beyond (1:10)


Should I apply for jobs I'm on the fence about? (3:50 mins)


How common is it to change universities in the first five years? (1:41 mins)


Is the sessional experience valued or not? (3:10 mins)


What is the goal of the campus visit and interview? (4:30 mins)


Are there too many PhDs? (2:31 mins)


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